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*Melanie68* · 09-14-2006, 11:53 AM

I want to save this thread from endless political debates and conspiracy theories

I don't know if any of you have been following the saga of this picture (it's a very striking picture to me - the seeming serenity of the foreground with the chaos in the rear):

I've only been reading about it in Slate.com so that's the only reference I have. It was taken on 9/11 and the man who took it (Thomas Hoepker) never published it, deeming it too controversial. The people in the photo 'appear' relaxed and look like they are just having a chat (and the photographer never interviewed his subjects). So Frank Rich of the New York Times wrote a column (which you can't read unless you subscribe to Times Select) which was discussed here in Slate. The next day, David Plotz vehemtly disagreed with Frank Rich's assessment and asked for the people in the photo to get in contact with them to hear it from them as to what they were doing. So two of the people (on the far right) have written in and said what they were doing and basically said. 'Shame on you, Frank Rich!'

Yes, I have moved on but certainly not everyone has and I highly, highly doubt that many on that day would have 'moved on' so quickly. It would have been especially rare, I would think, for a New Yorker. I don't know what Frank Rich was thinking.

I thought it was an interesting saga and proof that it helps to ask your photo subjects about themselves and how a moment in time in one photo can be look one way but be something very different.

09-14-2006, 11:53 AM	#72
Melanie68 Super Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,907	I want to save this thread from endless political debates and conspiracy theories I don't know if any of you have been following the saga of this picture (it's a very striking picture to me - the seeming serenity of the foreground with the chaos in the rear): I've only been reading about it in Slate.com so that's the only reference I have. It was taken on 9/11 and the man who took it (Thomas Hoepker) never published it, deeming it too controversial. The people in the photo 'appear' relaxed and look like they are just having a chat (and the photographer never interviewed his subjects). So Frank Rich of the New York Times wrote a column (which you can't read unless you subscribe to Times Select) which was discussed here in Slate. The next day, David Plotz vehemtly disagreed with Frank Rich's assessment and asked for the people in the photo to get in contact with them to hear it from them as to what they were doing. So two of the people (on the far right) have written in and said what they were doing and basically said. 'Shame on you, Frank Rich!' Yes, I have moved on but certainly not everyone has and I highly, highly doubt that many on that day would have 'moved on' so quickly. It would have been especially rare, I would think, for a New Yorker. I don't know what Frank Rich was thinking. I thought it was an interesting saga and proof that it helps to ask your photo subjects about themselves and how a moment in time in one photo can be look one way but be something very different.